By: Nomi Kaltmann as seen in Ha’aretz
2 March 2025
MELBOURNE – When Velvel Lederman steps off the plane in Tel Aviv this June, it will mark the realization of his lifelong dream of immigrating to Israel.
The retired schoolteacher and Orthodox father of eight children – three of whom live in Israel – will be leaving behind the comforts of life in laid-back Sydney to spend his retirement years in a new country still shaken by the worst disaster in its history. A son of Holocaust survivors, Lederman, 71, says he always planned on making aliyah. But it was the recent and unprecedented rise in antisemitism in Australia that convinced him this was the time.
“When we saw everything that was happening and all of the trouble here in Australia, and Sydney especially, we knew that Israel is the real home for Jewish people,” he says.
Like many young Australians, Elishevah – who asked that her last name not be published – has been shocked at the recent calls for violence against Jewish people on Australian campuses and the slow response from law enforcement officials.
“The fact that people in Australia can say ‘resistance by any means necessary’ and mean it – there needs to be action taken against that,” she says. “To watch a whole generation turn into Hamas, Hezbollah and jihad supporters, all because they don’t like Jewish people – that has to stop for me to stay.”
She first opened a request to immigrate back in 2022, but says that since the October 7 Hamas attack, her desire to leave Australia has taken on greater urgency. Referring to her Gen Z peers, Elisheva says: “For Australia to be safe, they need to change their behavior, as they are the generation who will lead us. If this is how they think, it will only get worse from here.”
Over the past 16-plus months, Australian Jews have been shocked by an unprecedented and troubling rise in antisemitism. This has included arson attacks against synagogues; the doxxing of hundreds of Jewish creatives; attacks on Jewish businesses and schools; and arson attempt on the former home of the co-chair of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (the country’s top Jewish body).
This tight-knit community of some 120,000 Jews had never experienced significant antisemitism before. But since the Hamas attack and ensuing war in Gaza, incidents of Jew-hatred have skyrocketed across the country, spreading even to isolated communities in Queensland and Adelaide. Most of Australia’s Jewish community is centered around Melbourne and Sydney, with smaller communities in Perth and Queensland.
Hearts set on aliyah
Retired schoolteacher Lederman holds little optimism for the future of Jewish life in Australia. “I believe antisemitism here is being fueled by overseas influences, with people being paid to spread fear and intimidation,” he says.
Although he is fully aware that Israel, with the ongoing war, is still potentially far less safe a place for Jews today, he says: “I do not think you will see ‘Fuck the Jews’ graffitied on houses while walking down a street in Tel Aviv.”
Australian Jews have always felt welcome and appreciated in their country, home to one of the largest concentrations of Holocaust survivors in the world. Over the past 17 months, however, many have felt the ground shift beneath their feet.
Indeed, a quick scroll through Jewish Australian Facebook groups reveals a noticeable rise in posts about leaving Australia since October 7.
And they are not just toying with the idea.
According to Jewish Agency figures, 193 Australians immigrated to Israel in 2024 – up 45 percent from the previous year. However, Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto cautions against seeing this trend as a direct result of antisemitism.
“We do not want to fuel a false narrative that Australian Jews are making aliyah to flee antisemitism, as this is not the motivation for the vast majority,” he says. “Anecdotally, the vast majority would object strongly to their aliyah being characterized as being driven by antisemitism.”
It is quite likely, in fact, that most of these Australian Jews who are making aliyah – like Lederman and Elisheva – had their hearts set on aliyah before the explosion of antisemitism that followed the October 7 attack.
Paul Baram, a 65-year-old lawyer from Sydney, was born in Australia to grandparents who fled the Russian pogroms more than a century ago. While he says he is not yet ready to move to Israel, rising antisemitism in Australia has prompted him to reconsider his family’s future in the country.
“My wife and I discussed for the first time in our lives the possibility of having to leave Australia because of the extent of antisemitism, which in my view is now entrenched,” he says. Among other options, he is considering a move to Britain – where his daughter lives – although he notes that “the antisemitism is just as bad there.”
Liana Levin finds herself in a similar position. “I have been worried, and I am abundantly aware of history repeating itself,” says the 62-year-old, Canberra-based public policy adviser who was born in Israel to parents who fled Europe.
She says she is watching the situation closely, noting that at her age, relocation can be challenging.
“It’s not something I want to do,” says Levin. “I have a very comfortable life in Canberra: a beautiful home, career opportunities and the advantage of language. My Hebrew is at a child’s level – the age I left.”
Still, if she were to pick up and leave, Levin says she knows where she would go. “Although I’m not in any way, shape or form religious, I have a profound and very real connection to Israel – as a Zionist and as someone who deeply, profoundly believes in Israel as the savior of the Jewish world.”
‘Plan B for a lot of people’
Eva Hussain is the founder of Polaron, a company that helps citizens with roots in Europe – like many Australian Jews – obtain citizenship there. “The interest in having a second passport has stayed steadily high as it gives people freedom to access 27 EU member states with no restrictions,” say Hussain, who is Jewish and serves as Austria’s honorary consul general in Victoria.
Demand for European passports among her clients, many of them Jewish, has increased more than 50 percent in the past six months, she says.
“Many of them left Europe, or their ancestors left Europe, because of antisemitism, so it’s really quite tragic that they are seeking citizenship outside of America and Australia,” she says.
Hussain says her relatives, some of whom are Holocaust survivors, never imagined that a time would come when Australian Jews would be considering returning to the countries where they suffered terrible persecution.
“It’s a plan B for a lot of people, but it’s also a safety net,” she says. “You never know what’s going to happen in this world, so better to have it.”
She adds: “Poland and Germany are making a big effort to make Jews feel safer.”
Patrick works as a community service manager and lives in Melbourne. (He also asked that his full name not be published.) He moved to Australia from Poland in the 1980s, after the fall of communism in that country. Through Polaron, this 37-year-old Jewish man reclaimed his Polish citizenship about 18 months ago.
“With the way that things are unfolding in Australia, I found it critical not just to safeguard a future for myself but, more importantly, for my children who are very young,” he says.
“I’m not packing up and leaving tomorrow, but it certainly gives me a greater level of comfort.”
Since the initial Hamas attack, Patrick says he has felt strengthened by his decision to keep his options open. “When I think back on it now, when I think about the environment and what has transpired since October 7, I feel even more comfortable that I have done my bit.”